Musical instrument digital interface(1981)

Smith suggest a common language for all electronic musical instrument.

The is a protocol designed for recording and playing back music on digital synthesizer that is supported by many makes of personal sound cards is called MIDI. It was quickly adopted for the personal computer and originally intended to control one keyboard from another. During the early 1970, sounds generated by the electronic synthesizer become increasingly popular in recordings and at rock concerts. Gradually, these once prohibitively expensive musical instruments become common place and affordable. In addition to a great variety of user friendly electronic keyboard on offer, there were related devices, such as sequencers that could trigger sounds from a connected keyboards, as well as drum machines with a variety of sounds.

One problem that arose with this electronic proliferation was that devices produced by different manufactures tended not to be  compatible with each other. American audio engineer Dave smith sought a way forward when, at a 1981 meeting of the audio engineering society ,he presented the universal communication standard for musical equipment. He called MIDI an acronym musical instrument digital interface. In essence, MIDI is a digital language that enables synthesizers, MIDI recorder( whether hardware sequences or computer based software ), drum machine, and other similarly equipped device to talk to one another by sending and receiving message via interconnecting MIDI cables. The simplest use of MIDI would be two synthesizer connected in such as a way to enable the sound if both instruments to be played and controlled from just one of the keyboard.

Smith's paper was immediately adopted by manufacturer. Indeed, it would be  no exaggeration to suggest that without MIDI most of the programmed and sampled electronic music of the past twenty five year simply could not have been made. Devices with extra futures including instrumental selection transport control and also including rhythm input are sometimes called keyboard controllers.